Railways

Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales with reference to the oral answer of 25 April 2012, Official Report, column 940, on rail transport, whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment of the potential effects of High Speed 2 on the Welsh economy; what issues her Department has raised with the Department for Transport regarding line speeds west of Crewe and across North Wales, including electrification; and if she will make a statement.

David Jones: I have regular discussions with a range of interested parties, including Ministers in the Department for Transport, on issues that affect Wales. The appraisal of the economic case for High Speed 2 published as part of the Government's decisions in January set out the impacts of the scheme on the whole of Great Britain.
	The High Level Output Specification (HLOS), which will be published in the summer, will set out the strategic priorities for rail and will be accompanied by a statement of funding available to pay for this. My office will continue to work to ensure all parts of Wales benefit from improvements in rail infrastructure.

Logos

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how much the Equality and Human Rights Commission spent on items branded with its logo in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12.

Lynne Featherstone: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is an arm's length body; the following is based on information it has provided:
	
		
			 Items branded with the EHRC's logo (1) 
			  £ 
			 2009-10 24,264 
			 2010-11 30,208 
			 2011-12 4,841 
			 (1) This excludes items such as publications and leaflets bearing the EHRC's logo.

Sick Leave

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many days of sick leave were taken by staff in his Department in each of the last three years.

Bob Neill: The following numbers of total working days lost due to sickness absence were reported to Cabinet Office for the last three calendar years for the Department for Communities and Local Government:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2009 11,096 
			 2010 14,505 
			 2011 13,928 
		
	
	Average sickness absence rates in the Department are below the civil service average.
	The Department is committed to the well-being of its staff and offers a number of services to assist in minimising staff absences:
	A self-test stress indicator tool for line managers, to help them identify the skills they need to tackle workplace stress in their team, has been developed by the Health and Safety Executive, in association with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and Investors in People.
	Intranet information pages to inform staff on ways in which they can actively seek to maximise their physical and mental health.
	Access to a 24 hour Employee Assistance helpline which offers advice and support for all staff to deal with sick absence.

Tenants: Antisocial Behaviour

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he has taken to help residents living next to an antisocial tenant of a private landlord.

Andrew Stunell: Local authorities have extensive powers under the Housing Act 2004 to take action against private landlords who fail in their responsibilities. These powers include the discretion to introduce selective licensing schemes in areas suffering from low housing demand and/or significant incidence of antisocial behaviour without having to first seek Departmental approval. I believe that it is right for these local decisions to be made by those who are directly accountable to local communities.
	The Act also provides local authorities with powers to take over the management of individual privately rented properties should a landlord fail to deal with a tenant's antisocial behaviour. I would urge and encourage local authorities to make full use of their powers to target and tackle the small minority of rogue landlords.

Transport

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the level of expenditure on advertising traffic orders in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) the east midlands in the latest period in which figures are available.

Norman Baker: The consultation on amending requirements placed on traffic authorities when they propose and make temporary and permanent traffic orders has now closed.
	The consultation paper made reference to a report published by the UK Network Management Board and the results of a survey carried out in 2010 amongst traffic authorities about money spent on local newspaper advertising of traffic orders. Nottinghamshire County Council responded to the survey, and reported an annual spend of £156,183 on advertising costs for traffic orders. There is no specific information available relating to the East Midland region or the Ashfield constituency. However, the report considered responses received and estimated that at that time that £22.3 million was being spent annually in England on advertising traffic orders. This figure was adjusted to £20 million for consultation purposes due to changes that have already been made by the Highways Agency, which has already significantly reduced its spend in this area.

Roads

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Highways Agency spent on downgrading lay-bys to emergency use only in (a) Suffolk, (b) the East of England and (c) England in each of the last five years; and how many were so downgraded in each year in each area.

Norman Baker: holding answer 14 May 2012
	Highways Agency lay-bys downgraded to emergency use only:
	
		
			  Suffolk only East of England (excluding Suffolk) England (excluding Suffolk and East of England) 
			  Cost (£) Number Cost (£) Number Cost (£) Number 
			 2007-08 158,543 1 0 0 0 0 
			 2008-09 0 0 0 0 n/a 1 
			 2009-10 22,000 2 33,000 3 182,000 9 
			 2010-11 20,236 2 0 0 n/a 1 
			 2011-12 0 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	All costs quoted are approximate, as many lay-by downgrades were undertaken as part of larger maintenance schemes.

Roads

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Highways Agency spent on upgrading substandard lay-bys in (a) Suffolk, (b) the East of England and (c) England in each of the last five years; and how many substandard lay-bys were upgraded in each area in each year.

Norman Baker: holding answer 14 May 2012
	Highways Agency lay-bys that have been upgraded:
	
		
			  Suffolk only East of England (excluding Suffolk) England (excluding Suffolk and East of England) 
			  Cost (£) Number Cost (£) Number Cost (£) Number 
			 2007-08 0 0 0 0 766,423 4 
			 2008-09 0 0 0 0 570,079 4 
			 2009-10 0 0 158,850 7 3,734,741 12 
			 2010-11 91,330 2 227,338 2 434,651 11 
			 2011-12 0 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	All costs quoted are approximate, as many lay-by upgrades have been undertaken as part of larger improvement schemes.
	Not all lay-bys were classed as sub-standard by the Highway Agency. Some were enhanced as part of larger schemes.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been expelled from the UK as a result of the expiration or invalidation of their student visas in each of the last 12 months.

Damian Green: The data requested is not held in a format compatible with National Statistics protocols, or produced as part of the UK Border Agency's standard reports.
	However the UK Border Agency publishes immigration statistics on a quarterly and annual basis, a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House. The latest published statistics on non asylum removals can also be found here;
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q4-2011/

Female Genital Mutilation

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to prevent female genital mutilation being carried out on British citizens.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government is absolutely committed to tackling and preventing female genital mutilation (FGM).
	Last year the Government developed and launched multi-agency guidelines for all frontline professionals which aim to raise awareness about FGM and highlight the signs that practitioners and professionals should look out for which may identify girls at risk. The guidelines set out the steps that professionals such as nurses and GPs should take to protect and safeguard those at risk, or already affected by FGM. The Home Office also distributed more than 80,000 leaflets and posters to schools, health services, charities and community groups around the country and in October 2011 launched the FGM Fund—a total of £50,000 to support frontline practitioners working with women and girls affected by FGM. We continue to work with the Department for Education, Department of Health, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as with voluntary sector partners, to shape our work.

Pay

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department's officials located in Wales would be affected by proposals for local-facing pay.

Damian Green: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), announced in his budget speech on 21 March 2012, Official Report, columns 793-808, that Departments would be expected to move towards introducing local market-facing pay reform over the next few years. The Home Office is currently considering what this means for staff around the country, including Wales, and will discuss this with staff and trade unions as part of the annual pay negotiating process.
	At 30 April 2012, the Home Office had 517 paid civil servants based in Wales.

UK Border Agency

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff of the UK Border Agency were working on intelligence gathering about common routes for smuggling people into the UK in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; how many are expected to be working on this area in 2012-13; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency expects all front line staff to be involved in the collection of intelligence. There is a core of staff dedicated to intelligence processing, analysis and operations. In 2010-11 there were 819 staff involved in intelligence operations, with 778 performing those functions in 2011-12.
	The activities of those staff were focused on a range of priorities identified within the agency's intelligence requirement, including people smuggling, human trafficking and the key routes and nexus points associated with those forms of criminal behaviour.
	The staffing profile for intelligence operations is under review as the agency is restructured to deliver an enhanced approach to delivering intelligence-led operations.

Direct Mail: Fraud

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to protect consumers from mail scams.

Norman Lamb: The National Fraud Agency (which runs Action Fraud) and the Metropolitan Police lead on a national strategy to confront mass marketing fraud holistically. They are engaging with key partners, including postal operators, to tackle mass-marketed postal scams.
	The Government strongly advises anyone who receives material through the post that they suspect may constitute a fraud to draw their concerns to the attention of the appropriate authorities.
	Scams can be easily reported to “Action Fraud” either online via the Action Fraud website:
	www.actionfraud.org.uk
	or by phoning 0300 123 2040. This service also provides help and advice over the phone via the Action Fraud contact centre.
	The Government recognises the damage that scams can do and we will do all we can to ensure that consumers know how to spot a scam and know what they should do when they spot one. Information and advice about scams can be found on the Citizens Advice website:
	www.adviceguide.org.uk
	and Directgov website:
	www.direct.gov.uk

Higher Education

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 20 March 2012, Official Report, column 685W, on higher education, how he ensures value for money for the Exchequer if outcomes from for-profit and not-for-profit institutions are not recorded.

David Willetts: The Government's Higher education (HE) reforms, set out in the HE White Paper “Students at the Heart of the System”, published in June 2011, encourage institutions to focus on ensuring value for money. In the future, as the majority of funding will be channelled through students, higher education providers (whether they are for-profit or not-for-profit) will be more reliant on attracting students to maintain their income. They will need to be more responsive to students, ensure they offer good value for money, and clearly demonstrate the use made of the contribution that students make towards their higher education.
	Our reforms put students at the heart of the system as money will flow through students in response to the choices that they make, not the choices that Government makes for them. It is for students to determine whether or not a course provides value for money on the basis of information that is available.
	We believe that new providers and new forms of higher education provision will help stimulate and strengthen market competition, and promote student choice and ensure value for money throughout the HE sector.

ICT

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to provide assistance for small and medium-sized companies in the IT sector; and what steps he is taking to encourage IT-related contracts and requirements to be assembled into appropriately sized small, medium and large packages of work for delivery by the most suitably sized and skilled organisations.

Mark Prisk: We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. That is why, on 23 January 2012, the Prime Minister launched Business in You, a major year-long campaign, to inspire people to realise their business ambitions and to highlight the range of support available for start-ups and growing businesses.
	Government is supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK in a number of ways:
	Ensuring SMEs can access the support and advice they need to start and grow
	We have transformed the way that we enable people to access the information, guidance and advice they need to start and grow a business. We have put in place a range of services including:
	An improved
	www.businesslink.gov.uk
	website including: a new Growth and Improvement Service and ‘My New Business’, a
	comprehensive start-up service.
	A Business Link helpline which will support those who are unable to access the internet.
	A mentoring portal:
	www.mentorsme.co.uk
	providing an easy route to find experienced business mentors.
	Started to introduce the new Business Coaching for Growth service, providing high quality coaching support for up to 10,000 SMEs a year with high growth potential.
	A streamlined Solutions for Business support portfolio was announced in March 2011, targeted at help for business, for example on helping businesses sell overseas and dealing with technology developments.
	Ensuring businesses can access the finance the y  need
	Ensuring the flow of credit to viable SMEs is essential for supporting growth and is a core priority for this Government. We want to ensure that the financial sector can supply affordable credit that businesses need, and we would like to see more diverse sources of finance for SMEs including, where appropriate, access to equity finance. Government has:
	Launched the National Loan Guarantee Scheme: up to £20 billion of guarantees for bank funding will be available over two years allowing banks to offer lower cost lending to SMEs.
	Increased the funds available to invest through the Business Finance Partnership (BFP) to £1.2 billion. Government has invited the first round of proposals to help businesses access non-bank finance through the BFP, and will allocate £100 million of the BFP to invest through non-traditional lending channels.
	Announced the continuation of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme until 2014/15, providing, subject to demand, over £2 billion in total over the next four years.
	Continuation of the Government's Enterprise Capital Funds programme, increasing our commitment by £200 million over the next four years, providing for more than £300 million of venture capital investment to address the equity gap for early stage innovative SMEs.
	Announced that we will pilot the best way to introduce a programme of enterprise loans to help young people set up and grow their own businesses.
	Encouraging Business Angel investment through a new £50 million Business Angel Co-Investment Fund.
	Welcomed the report of the industry review of non-bank lending chaired by Tim Breedon and will take forward its recommendations over the course of this year, including: considering how to simplify access to Government support for smaller businesses; encouraging prompt payment by larger firms; and supporting industry work to remove barriers to alternative sources of finance.
	The Regional Growth Fund is a £2.4 billion fund operating across England from 2011 to 2015. It supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment creating economic growth and sustainable employment.
	Ensuring that regulation supports business growth
	Introduced a ‘one-in, one-out’ rule whereby no new regulations which impose costs on businesses can be brought in without regulation of an equivalent value being removed.
	Introduced a three-year moratorium on new domestic regulation affecting micro businesses and genuine start-ups.
	The Red Tape Challenge is tackling the stock of regulation via a comprehensive thematic review which aims to identify regulations that could be removed, simplified or done in a different way. By the end of December 2011 we had scrapped or simplified over 600 regulations.
	Reforming the way in which regulations are implemented, including a review of regulators to ensure enforcement arrangements are appropriate and proportionate. Government will also launch sector-based reviews of regulation to ensure it is enforced at the lowest possible cost to business.
	To reduce barriers to businesses taking on new staff Government has announced significant deregulation of employment law, including increasing the unfair dismissal qualifying period from one to two years.
	Encouraging exporting SMEs
	The Government will spend £35 million to double, from 25,000 to 50,000, the number of SMEs that UKTI supports a year by 2015. Many components of the UKTI product are aimed at SMEs:
	Passport to Export is a trade development programme offering new and inexperienced exporters help and support to build the capability to start exporting proactively and make their first visit to an export market. Launched in 2001, it has helped around 14,000 SMEs as of January 2012.
	Gateway to Global Growth offers experienced SME exporters the opportunity to increase their exporting skills and awareness of what is on offer from UKTI and private sector suppliers. The aim is to help them enter more difficult markets or expand in existing ones.
	Market Visit Support provides assistance to new to export and/or new to market SMEs visiting overseas markets, individually or in groups as part of their trade development process.
	Budget 2012 set out an ambition to more than double annual UK exports to £1 trillion by 2020 through additional measures including expanding the overseas role of UK Export Finance to enable it to develop finance packages that could help UK exporters secure opportunities identified through UK Trade and Investment's High Value Opportunities programme; helping secure temporary private sector office space overseas for new UK exporters in high growth countries where such services are difficult to obtain; and continuing to increase UK Export Finance's regional presence in the UK to support SMEs seeking trade finance.
	On 9 March 2012, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), announced that in future, Government IT contracts will be more flexible, starting with two areas (application software and infrastructure IT). The Government is introducing set breakpoints in IT contracts so there is less money locked into large lengthy contracts. The Government will look to disaggregate future contracts and deliver flexible, cheaper solutions. This opens up opportunities for SMEs and reduces the cost to taxpayers.

National Childbirth Trust: Training

Daniel Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to alter his Department's funding arrangements for National Childbirth Trust Practitioner training courses.

David Willetts: The financial arrangements for higher education are changing from 2012/13 with less funding provided through block grants from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and more provided through student tuition fees, supported by a more generous system of publicly-funded student support to eligible students. These arrangements apply equally to the courses that the National Childbirth Trust offers to students in partnership with the University of Worcester and mean that previous levels of HEFCE funding cannot be maintained.

Sick Leave

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many of days of sick leave were taken by staff in his Department in each of the last three years.

Norman Lamb: holding answer 15 May 2012
	In June 2009 the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was merged with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to create the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Therefore we only have access to data from this date.
	The following table shows how many days of sick leave were taken by staff in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills including UKTI in each of the last three years. The figures are based on a 12 month rolling period.
	
		
			  Number of sick leave days 
			 (1) July 2009 to June 2010 13,036 
			 (2) July 2010 to June 2011 9,867 
			 (3) January 2011 to December 2011(1) 13,819 
			 (1) 3(rd) year data overlaps 2(nd) year due to the way in which data are collected on a 12 month rolling period. 
		
	
	All BIS core (including UKTI) and agencies sickness absence information is published on a quarterly basis and can be found in the following link.
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/about/performance-reports

Mobile Phones

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth of 22 March 2012, Official Report, column 791W, on mobile phones: rural areas, what discussions he has had with rural campaign and consumer groups on Ofcom's proposal not to ensure all four mobile network operators have access to sub 1GHz spectrum;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the consumer of lack of choice of mobile network operators and tariff because mobile network operators do not have access to the sub 1GHz spectrum necessary to provide coverage in hard to serve areas.

Edward Vaizey: I have made no assessment of these issues.
	The matter raised is an operational one for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom's second consultation on the combined auction of 800 MHz and 2600 MHz spectrum closed on 22 March. In that consultation, Ofcom set out its refined analysis of the relative technical capabilities of spectrum at different frequencies and the impact on competition of holding sub 1 GHz spectrum. Ofcom has received over 40 responses to this consultation which it is currently analysing. They intend to decide on these issues and publish a statement in July.

Video Games

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether his Department has any plans to place further restrictions on the content of video games following the testimony of Anders Breivik.

Edward Vaizey: The Government is currently moving towards strengthening the laws in respect of video game regulation. We have recently announced our intention to designate officers of the Video Standards Council as the authorities responsible for the classification of video games. When that process is complete, it will for the first time be a legal requirement for all video games suitable for those aged 12 or over to be classified. It will be an offence to supply a video game in breach of its classification. In addition, there is one extra safeguard in the UK that is not part of the general Pan European Games Information scheme that we will be using: in the UK, there will be the option of refusing classification where a video game cannot fit within the published PEGI criteria. If a game that |s not exempt has no classification, it will be an offence to supply it to anyone.

Cancer: Drugs

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 18 April 2012, Official Report, column 415W, on cancer, how he plans to allocate the £150 million underspend from the 2011-12 cancer drug fund budget; and whether he plans to reduce the amount of money allocated to the cancer drug fund following that underspend.

Paul Burstow: The Government is committed to making £200 million available to the national health service for each of the three years of the Cancer Drugs Fund's operation. There are no plans to reduce this.
	This funding is only available to the NHS to allow patients to access the additional cancer drugs that their doctors recommend for them through the Fund in each year.

Hunting Act 2004

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the operation of the Hunting Act 2004; whether she has any plans to (a) review and (b) bring forward proposals to amend the legislation in the next two years; and whether she had any meetings with interested parties to discuss the issue since May 2010.

James Paice: The Hunting Act 2004 was passed under the previous Administration, and remains highly controversial. Many people consider that the Act has not been a success and that it is unenforceable.
	The coalition Government has said that it intends to put forward a motion enabling the House of Commons to express its view on the repeal of the Hunting Act 2004 at an appropriate time. This position has not changed.
	I had a meeting with the Countryside Alliance in December 2011, during which the Hunting Act 2004 was discussed.

UN Conference on Sustainable Development

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her priorities are for the Rio+20 conference.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 15 May 2012
	Rio+20 is an opportunity to address the linked challenges of climate change, sustainable development, natural resources use and poverty eradication, while providing fresh impetus to strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the global economy.
	To this end, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), is working with Cabinet colleagues to deliver an ambitious outcome for Rio+20 in particular a political declaration on the need for sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient growth; agreement on sustainable development goals as a means of focussing international attention on cross-cutting issues, such as food, water and energy security; additional measures of GDP in Government accounting (taking into account the value of natural resources and social issues); a commitment that drives private sector uptake of transparent sustainability reporting and investment; and recommendations for greater coherence, efficiency, and improved co-ordination in the institutional framework for sustainable development.

Armed Forces: Council Tax

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications his Department has had with local authorities in England on applying the 50 per cent discount in council tax to military families posted overseas who leave their UK home unoccupied; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The administration of council tax, including making decisions regarding discounts or exemptions, is for local, not central, government. However, as part of the Armed Forces Covenant, the Department for Communities and Local Government, who hold policy responsibility for council tax, will issue a council tax information letter to all billing authorities in England, to raise awareness of the payments that service personnel and families pay in lieu of council tax when considering applications for second home discount.

Energy: Billing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the European Parliament's proposed amendments to article 6 of the energy efficiency directive relating to the monitoring and reporting of costs passed on to consumers.

Gregory Barker: Through the energy company obligation, which will be launched in the UK later this year, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), will have powers to require the provision of detailed information on energy suppliers' delivery of the scheme, including information on costs incurred in meeting their obligations. Full details will be published in due course as part of the Government's response to the Green Deal and ECO consultation.
	Negotiations on the energy efficiency directive continue actively between the Council, Commission and European Parliament.

Africa

Anna Soubry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the G8 successfully tackles malnutrition in Africa.

Andrew Mitchell: My officials have been working closely with other G8 members to set out plans for food and nutrition security, building on commitments made at L'Aquila in 2009. These include support to the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, and nutrition programmes for pregnant women and children in the critical 1,000 days from conception. UK support to the SUN movement has generated rapid and significant political commitment to tackle undernutrition globally.
	The UK also supports G8 plans for the accelerated release, adoption and consumption of bio-fortified crops and technologies to improve the nutritional quality of food in Africa. G8 members are likely to agree to do more to improve nutrition policies and to support the efforts of African institutions, civil society and private sector partners to establish regional nutritional learning centres to better develop the evidence and capacity to tackle hunger in Africa.
	The UK is already committed to improve the nutrition of 20 million children under five years of age from 2011-15. I believe that collectively we—the G8—can and should do more to tackle the crisis of malnutrition in developing countries. I will be attending the food security symposium, organised around the G8 summit, to demonstrate strong UK backing for tackling undernutrition and to push for more collective action on this important issue globally, and for Africa in particular.

Africa

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on steps to tackle malnutrition in Africa.

Andrew Mitchell: The coalition Government has dedicated significant extra resources to improve nutrition in Africa, under our strategy to tackle under-nutrition in developing countries. My Department is working closely with the United States, European Commission, Ireland and Canada to support the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, which has secured the commitment of 20 African countries. In addition to direct aid on nutrition such as providing 700,000 Zambian children with micro nutrient powders, we are supporting partner governments in Africa to strengthen their approaches. We are also co-ordinating other donors behind national strategies. For example, in Zambia the UK is working with other donors such as Irish Aid to support the national programme, and in Nigeria the UK is taking on the role of donor convenor for nutrition. We are also working with other G8 and G20 members to improve the global food system, especially in tackling the impact of price volatility, and with donors such as the Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation to ensure that evidence gaps are filled.
	To help avoid the cycle of food crises in Africa, the UK is playing a leading role in an international effort to effort to reduce countries' and communities' resilience to shocks. At times of particular need such as the Horn and Sahel food crises, I press donor governments and multilateral organisations for a more timely and proportionate response. I have had regular discussions with my counterparts in the United States and European governments, including on preventing and treating acute malnutrition.

Eritrea

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Eritrea; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Mitchell: Eritrea, like other countries in the region, is affected by chronic food insecurity. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is reporting exceptional shortfalls in food production and supply, and estimates that 65% of the population is undernourished. Eritrea was ranked the third worst country in the world for food security in the Global Hunger Index in 2010 and 2011.
	The Government of Eritrea denies that there are food shortages in the country, although it accepts there is poverty and need for development. The UK will continue to engage in Eritrea through our UN partners. This year UK aid will improve nutrition for 60,000 children, provide 40,000 people with access to clean water supplies, and help 37,000 households to construct their own toilets.

UN Convention on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the Government intends that the UK will accede to the UN convention on non-navigational uses of international watercourses.

Stephen O'Brien: The UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (the Convention) was adopted in 1997. The UK was a sponsoring partner, but has yet to accede. The Convention provides a framework for the management of transboundary waters. The principles in the Convention are acknowledged as being valuable and important and have been widely used despite not entering into force.
	To date, the 1997 UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of Watercourses has not entered into force as too few countries have either ratified or acceded to this Convention. The UK has not ratified nor acceded to the Convention and has no intention to do so at this time.

Bangladesh

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings he has had with representatives of the Government of Bangladesh on disappearances in that country.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), most recently raised our concerns about democracy and human rights in Bangladesh when he met the Bangladesh Foreign Minister on 16 April.
	Our high commission in Bangladesh also raises our concerns at alleged human rights violations, including disappearances, with the Government.
	In a press conference on Wednesday 9 May, our high commissioner in Bangladesh and ambassadors of eight other European countries, called on the Bangladesh authorities to conduct thorough investigations into disappearances and killings.

Bangladesh

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had any meetings with representatives of the government of Bangladesh regarding the disappearance of M. Ilyas Ali.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has not had any meetings with the Government of Bangladesh about the disappearance of Mr Elias Ali, but raised our interest in democracy and human rights in Bangladesh when he met the Bangladesh Foreign Minister on 16 April.
	We are concerned about the disappearance of Mr Elias Ali. The British high commission in Dhaka is in regular contact with members of the Government and the Bangladesh Nationalist party. In a press conference on Wednesday 9 May, our high commissioner to Bangladesh, and ambassadors of eight other European countries called on the Bangladesh authorities to conduct thorough investigations into disappearances, including that of Mr Ali.
	We continue to urge the Bangladeshi authorities to do all they can to locate Mr Ali and to investigate the circumstances of his disappearance.

Israel: Palestinians

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to visit Palestine to assess the humanitarian situation.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has no immediate plans to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
	We maintain a regular schedule of ministerial visits to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including to assess the humanitarian situation. I last visited in January this year. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), also visited in December.

Pre-school Education

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of families in Reading West constituency who will receive free early education for two-year-olds in each year of the spending review period.

Sarah Teather: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), announced in the autumn statement of 29 November 2011, Official Report, columns 799-810, that the early education entitlement for two-year-olds will be expanded to around 260,000 children. The Government intends to take a phased approach to the implementation of the new entitlement. The 20% most disadvantaged two-year-olds will be eligible from September 2013. From 2014, the entitlement will be extended to around 40% of two-year-olds.
	We estimate that around 400 two-year-olds living within the area covered by Reading borough council are likely to be eligible for the entitlement from September 2013. We are considering eligibility criteria for the second phase, and will consult in due course.